Hotel Beau-Rivage Palace

Hotel Beau-Rivage Palace

Hotel Beau-Rivage Palace sits on 40,000 square metres of parkland on the shore of Lake Geneva, close enough to Lausanne's centre to walk to the Olympic Museum but wrapped in enough garden that the water and the French Alps beyond it dominate the view from most rooms. The building dates to 1908, though the hotel's story on this same shoreline goes back to 1861, and the six floors and 168 rooms still carry that early-twentieth-century formality: high ceilings, deep bathtubs, bathrobes and slippers rather than minibars as the main event. What sets it apart from other Lake Geneva grandes dames is Pic au Beau-Rivage Palace, Anne-Sophie Pic's two-Michelin-star restaurant, alongside three further dining rooms and two bars, so a serious meal is never more than an elevator ride away. Between courses there is a Guerlain spa, indoor and outdoor pools, a private beach, tennis and golf nearby, and a business centre that puts it within reach of executives attending programmes at IMD next door. Families are handled properly too, with a kids club and playroom rather than a token corner. This suits people who want Michelin cooking and Belle Époque architecture without leaving the property, and business travellers who need a serious meeting room by day and a bar with a lake view by night. It will feel like too much house for anyone after a plain, modern room and a quick coffee. The hotel is EarthCheck certified, for what that is worth to guests who ask. Extra beds run 130 CHF a night, and pets are welcome for a small fee. On Lake Geneva's shore since 1861, rebuilt in 1908, Beau-Rivage Palace pairs Anne-Sophie Pic's two-Michelin-star restaurant with a Guerlain spa, private beach and 168 rooms across 40,000 square metres of parkland. Good for travellers who want serious food and full-scale grandeur; less so for anyone wanting understated or modern.